A summer holiday often provides a principal with time to reflect on their own lives and in particular their work/life balance, which can result in a return from a holiday and an intention to rid themselves of the headaches being a business owner can bring.
If you find yourself considering your future then do remember planning is essential for those serious about selling their dental practice.
I use the word ‘serious’ deliberately as if you just embark on selling without it being planned then don’t be surprised if the result is less than startling.
Those most likely to be successful in this pursuit will be those best prepared – success can be measured by the value achieved, speed of transaction, reduced stress through the process and a whole host of other benefits. Preparation starts with establishing what you want to achieve from selling your practice and then putting in place the necessary stepping stones to ensure this dream becomes a reality.
Finding out early on what your practice is worth, for most, is the critical first step.
It is likely that this will drive your timetable and future plans. It is also important to ensure that you get your practice valued by someone who is independent – you wouldn’t want it valued by someone who may be interested in buying your practice or has another agenda being served. Simple and essential planning.
As a result of getting your practice valued you could take a number of different paths; sell immediately (many do as goodwill values are so high at present), defer selling as the value didn’t match the value expectation (if this is the case talk to a reputable agent who can provide you with guidance on how best to achieve your expectation) or develop your practice further. As long as you have planned when you want to sell your practice with sufficient time for you to implement some changes and allow time for them to bed in and positively impact on the goodwill value.
There is also some admin that will require some attention and planning. Selling your business requires you to provide a bundle of information to your solicitor as part of the due diligence process. This will include staff contracts, associate contracts, details of any equipment leases, property lease or freehold title deeds etc. The list goes on and much of this is already required by the CQC so should be readily available but to start assembling it early on in the process is definitely time well spent. Likewise, you should seek tax advice as there are a number of tax savings you can benefit from as a result of a sale and this could also influence at what time of year you want your sale to complete.
With good planning comes control; the more in control you feel, the better decisions you are likely to make. Given that selling your dental practice will be one of the biggest decisions in your life it makes sense to give it the time and attention it deserves.
